Minor physical anomalies and family adversity as risk factors for violent delinquency in adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: Minor physical anomalies are considered indicators of disruption in fetal development. They have been found to predict behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. This study examined the extent to which minor physical anomalies, family adversity, and their interaction predict violent and nonviolent delinquency in adolescence. METHOD: Minor physical anomalies were assessed in a group of 170 adolescent boys from low socioeconomic status neighborhoods of Montréal. The boys had been enrolled in a longitudinal study since their kindergarten year, when an assessment of family adversity had been made on the basis of familial status and the parents' occupational prestige, age at the birth of the first child, and educational level. Adolescent delinquency was measured by using self-reported questionnaires and a search of official crime records. RESULTS: Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that both the total count of minor physical anomalies and the total count of minor physical anomalies of the mouth were significantly associated with an increased risk of violent delinquency in adolescence, beyond the effects of childhood physical aggression and family adversity. Similar findings were not found for nonviolent delinquency. CONCLUSIONS: Children with a higher count of minor physical anomalies, and especially a higher count of anomalies of the mouth, could be more difficult to socialize for different and additive reasons: they may have neurological deficits, and they may have feeding problems in the first months after birth. Longitudinal studies of infants with minor physical anomalies of the mouth are needed to understand the process by which they fail to learn to inhibit physical aggression.

Psychosocial predictors of depressive symptomatology level in postpartum women.

This study explored a multifactorial model for the prediction of the intensity of depressive symptoms in postpartum women. Data were gathered from 213 pregnant women during the second trimester of pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. Participants were assessed according to a number of psychosocial variables. A path analysis indicated that four variables had a direct effect on postpartum depressive symptomatology level: lower occupational status, prenatal depression level, more distal stressors and a personal psychiatric history. Eight variables, which reflected past and present experiences, showed an indirect effect. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Psychosocial factors related to emotional disturbances during pregnancy.

This study explored a multifactorial model for the understanding of the factors related to the intensity of prenatal emotional disturbances. Data were gathered from 213 pregnant women during the second trimester of pregnancy. Participants were assessed according to a number of psychosocial variables. Two types of prenatal emotional disturbances were examined: depressive symptoms and ambivalence and fears related to maternity. A path analysis indicated that four risk factor domains had a direct effect on depressive symptom level: locus of control; interpersonal relationships; stressors; and psychiatric history. Four risk factor domains also had a direct effect on the level of ambivalence and fears: sociodemographics; depressive symptom level; interpersonal relationships; and family history. Several factors showed an indirect effect on one or both of the disturbances. These results indicate that the study of factors related to prenatal emotional disturbances benefits from a multifactorial model assessing direct and indirect effects.

Influence of attitudes on the intention to use condoms in Quebec sexually active male adolescents.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of attitudes and other variables on the intention to use condoms in sexually active male adolescents. METHODS: The survey was conducted from April to June 1989 on a sample of 433 sexually active boys aged 12-19 years registered in secondary schools in Laval, Quebec. RESULTS: Information on condoms provided by parents, peers, school, or media had no positive effect on male adolescents' intention to use condoms. Having a favorable attitude towards contraceptive responsibility, however, was significantly associated with the outcome variable. Endorsement of this responsibility seemed short-lived being replaced by the birth control pill in older adolescents. The study also found that in younger adolescents, intention to use condoms was significantly associated with supportive parental attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study highlight the importance of developing strategies to encourage sexually active male adolescents to assume greater responsibility for using condoms, and suggest that in order for programs to be effective, STD and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome prevention should be done at younger ages while encouraging parents to take a greater role in sex education.

PIP: The authors surveyed between April and June 1989, 1328 males from six secondary schools in grades 7-11 in Laval, Quebec, to determine the influence of attitudes and other variables on their intentions to use condoms. Findings are based upon survey feedback from the 433 students who reported being sexually active. Although they ranged in age from 12 to 19 years, 91.9% were aged 13-17. Laval is a mainly French-speaking middle-class white suburb immediately north of Montreal and is the second most populous city in the province of Quebec with a population of 314,398. Condom use at first intercourse was greatest among 14 year olds at 72.7%, compared to only 51.2% of 17 year olds. Older adolescents depended more upon their female partners' use of oral contraceptives. In younger adolescents, the intention to use condoms was significantly associated with supportive parental attitudes about sexuality and contraception. Information on condoms provided by parents, peers, schools, and the media had no positive effect upon subjects' intentions to use condoms. The young men seemed instead to be more affected by their personal attitudes about condoms. The authors suggest exposing young men to programs designed to prevent unwanted pregnancy, HIV infection, and other sexually transmitted diseases early in their lives. Parents should also be encouraged to take a greater role in sex education.

Factors influencing the intention to use condoms in Quebec sexually-inactive male adolescents.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether attitudes and other variables would be associated with intention to use condoms in sexually-inactive male adolescents. METHODS: The survey was conducted from April to June 1989 on a sample of 879 sexually-inactive boys aged 12-19 years registered in secondary schools in Laval, Quebec. RESULTS: The major findings of the study were that: (1) information on condoms provided by peers was significantly associated with the intention to use condoms; (2) information provided by schools, while not significant in the final model, was positively associated with younger adolescents' intention to use condoms; and (3) sexually-inactive male adolescents in a less committed couple relationship had a greater intention to use condoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study highlight the importance of peer instructors as a source of information on condoms, as well as that of teachers and health professionals from the school environment. Other channels of communication, however, need to be developed particularly for older sexually-inactive adolescents who may be impervious to this latter source. The findings also underline the necessity to make sexually-inactive adolescents in stable couple relationships more aware of their potential vulnerability to STDs and AIDS should they commence sexual relations.

Paternal alcoholism, paternal absence and the development of problem behaviors in boys from age six to twelve years.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between paternal alcoholism, paternal absence, and the development and stability of behavioral problems in boys, from kindergarten to the end of elementary school. METHOD: A sample of 642 boys originating from low socioeconomic status (SES) families was used. Paternal alcoholism was established using the Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test. Behavioral problems (opposition, hyperactivity, inattention, physical aggression and anxiety) were assessed by teachers' reports when the boys were 6 and 12 years old. Four groups of boys were created on the basis of paternal alcoholism (nonalcoholic, alcoholic) and family structure (intact families, nonintact/father-absent families). RESULTS: Consistent with personality theories of alcoholism, results showed that a propensity for physical aggression and low anxiety best distinguished sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) from non-SOMAs at both ages (6 and 12 years), even when SES was controlled. In addition, SOMAs were more oppositional and hyperactive than non-SOMAs at both ages. No significant effects were observed for family structure or age, or an interaction between these factors and paternal alcoholism in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that problem behaviors in SOMAs begin early and persist over time, and that paternal alcoholism and family structure are not associated with changes in boys' behaviors between kindergarten and the end of elementary school in this population, at least in the sample used.

Interactional processes in families with disruptive boys: patterns of direct and indirect influence.

Patterns of direct and indirect influence were investigated in interactions among 44 families with disruptive boys. Positive and negative behaviors were assessed for spouses and parent-child dyads, in different laboratory situations. For direct or reciprocal influence, positive behaviors in the father-child dyads were positively correlated; mothers' positive behaviors were positively correlated with boys' negative behaviors, suggesting an unexpected pattern of "inverse reciprocity." For indirect influences, the following associations were found: Fathers' negative behaviors toward their children predicted the children's negative behaviors toward their mothers, and mothers' negative behaviors toward their children predicted the children's negative behaviors toward their fathers, suggesting a form of setting event or displaced behavior pattern. The children's negative behaviors toward their mothers correlated with the fathers' behaviors toward the mothers, suggesting a modeling pattern. These indirect paths underline the relevance of taking into account family interlocked relationships when studying child disruptiveness.

Parental marital status and adolescents' health-risk behavior.

This article reports the results of a questionnaire survey of a representative random sample of all the in-school Francophone adolescents of Montreal. The sample size was 4,539 and included adolescents from legally intact homes, separated/divorced homes, and homes in which a parent was decreased. Health-risk behavioral indicators were smoking (how many cigarettes a day), fastening of car seat belts, and intemperate drinking. Adolescents who lived in intact families engaged less in health-risk behavior than the other adolescents, especially those from separated/divorced families. The results for adolescents from widowed families were mixed. Several mutually complementary explanations are presented.

Pregnant women's social status, stress, self-esteem, and their infants' sex ratio at birth.

A reported association of social status of parents with infants' sex ratio at birth and of psychological stress (score on Beck Depression Inventory) with sex ratio were not supported by our analysis, but the possibility of an association between scores on the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale and sex ratio at birth for a sample of 385 pregnant women showed that women who have given birth to boys scored lower on self-esteem during pregnancy than those who have given birth to girls. Some explanations are reviewed to discuss this unforeseen association.

Perceptual defense and vigilance to perinatal stimuli.

The presentation times (milliseconds on a computer screen followed by a masking grid) required for the correct identification of tachistoscopically presented perinatal stimuli were compared for 30 pregnant women and 25 perimenopausal women. Analysis indicated a differential facilitation or inhibition of perception in logical relation to subjects' closeness to pregnancy or menopause: pregnant women are quicker to identify stimuli related to pregnancy or babies but slower to recognize pictures of a pregnant woman with her father or mother. This supports the validity of measurements based on the theory of perceptual defense or vigilance.

Preference for sex of first child among women classified as androgynous and nonandrogynous.

This paper examined the relation between gender-role orientation and the preference for sex of firstborn child in 212 pregnant nulliparous women. The Bem Sex-role Inventory was used to assess gender-role orientation of participants. Analysis suggested that gender-role orientation, as measured does not effectively predict the preference for sex of firstborn child.

Birth order and fratricidal behaviour in Canada.

In 1996, Sulloway suggested that older siblings would be more fratricidal than younger ones. In Canada from 1974 to 1955, data on fratricide and sororicide do not support this hypothesis.

Mental representations of pregnant nulliparous women having no sex preference.

The objective was to elicit the mental representations about the sex of the future child of 89 nulliparous pregnant women who declared having no sex preference, using the Kelly's Repertory Grid. Analyses showed that 67% of these women had no explicit and clear representation about the sex of their first child. These data suggest that these pregnant women seemed really to have no sex preference.

Mental representations concerning the sex of the baby of pregnant nulliparous women who wished a boy or a girl.

The objective was to obtain the mental representations concerning the sex of the child of 125 nulliparous third- and fourth-mo. pregnant women who wished a boy or a girl, using Kelly's Repertory Grid. Our data indicate that the grid's average of the two groups of women is significantly different from 3 (the neutral point).

[Two neglected aspects of mourning : apparitions and temporal unfolding.]. / Deux aspects négligés du deuil : apparitions et déroulement temporel.

Two beliefs of our modern western society concerning the abnormality of the apparitions of the dead and the quick evolution of the grief work, are compared to the beliefs of other societies ; it is concluded that our society forces the repression, wrongly of legitimate phenomena and feelings.

[Adaptation of adolescents to the death or divorce of parents.]. / Adaptation des adolescents au décès ou au divorce des parents.

Research conducted on a sample of 5,539 francophone adolescents of the island of Montréal (from first year of High School to last year of Cégep) shows 446 children with divorced parents (9.82 %) and 330 orphans (7.27%). Simple and controlled comparisons of these two groups with adolescents living with both parents reveal a regular pattern where children of divorced families perceive themselves at a disadvantage, followed by orphans in the middle. The authors also analyse how the length of a divorce, the age at which parents divorced and the sex of the guardian parent influence the children. The authors then discuss the fact there are more girls born from divorced families.

[Contribution of social variables to the prediction of postnatal depression]. / La contribution de variables sociales à la prédiction de la dépression postnatale.

Considering the frequent denial of the importance of social factors associated with non psychotic postnatal depression, the objective of this study is to check whether social variables contribute or not to the prediction of postnatal depression. 369 subjects, primiparous or secondiparous, were followed up from early pregnancy up to the sixth month after delivery. Analyses show the importance of the social variables measured at the beginning of the pregnancy, these constituting one third of all the significant variables.

[Anglo-Saxon social research in mental health : tendencies, limits and impasses.]. / La recherche sociale anglo-saxonne en santé mentale : tendances, limites et impasses.

In this critical review of English-language research on mental health, the authors identify the dimensions and variables taken into consideration in analyzing, on the one hand, social space and, on the other hand, the field of mental health. Three essential aspects of the body of research are analyzed : theoretical frames of reference ; methods and instruments ; and how links are made between social variables and mental-health problems. In a long conclusion, orientations of French-Quebec social research into mental health are compared to those of English research.

[The ice storm: an opportunity to study the effects of prenatal stress on the baby and the mother.]. / La tempête de verglas : une occasion d'étudier les effets du stress prénatal chez l'enfant et la mère.

Over the last several years, studies have shown that stressful experiences during the pregnancy can predict levels of neurological development, as well as cognitive and psychological functioning, during childhood and adulthood. For example, Mednick (1997) has been studying the effects of a major earthquake in China on the psychological and intellectual development of the unborn child. Twenty-three years after the quake, significant differences have been found between the earthquake group and a control group born one year later in terms of intellectual functioning, depression, and the size of certain brain regions. Less severe events, such as a divorce or job loss during the pregnancy, may also increase the risk of obstetric complications and may have an effect on the baby's neurological well being, weight and head circumference at birth. Death of the baby's father during the pregnancy and natural disasters have both been associated with increased rates of depression, schizophrenia and criminality in adulthood. Several of these same effects have been found in studies of prenatal stress in non-human primates. Many of these studies suggest that the second trimester of pregnancy is a particularly critical period during which stressful events may compromise development of the fetus. Methodological constraints limit research on prenatal maternal stress. Animal studies are able to control for pre- and postnatal environments. However, animal studies have limited generalizability to humans for whom numerous risk and protective factors are in operation. Studies of human pregnancies cannot randomly assign subjects to stress conditions. Maternal personality and temperament may be associated with characteristics of a woman's child not only through genetic transmission of personality, but possibly also through differential exposure to difficult life conditions which may, in part, be self-imposed. In addition, studies of prenatal life events in humans have severely restricted variance; very large samples of women must be screened to identify even small numbers of women who have experienced major life events during the pregnancy. Finally, follow-back studies which show an association between prenatal events and later rates of mental illness, do not include timely evaluations of actual rates of exposure to the event, nor the pregnant woman's subjective or biological reactions to the event. In this paper, we present a review of the literature on prenatal maternal stress followed by a discussion of how the January 1998 Québec ice storm could be used to study the mechanisms by which prenatal stress may influence mental health outcomes in the unborn child.

Do referrals work? Responses of childbearing newcomers to referrals for care.

BACKGROUND: Health care post-birth may include referrals for additional care. Migrant (i.e., refugee, asylum-seeker, and immigrant) women frequently do not follow-up referrals for care and could be at increased health risk as a consequence. We sought to explore the inhibitors and facilitators of migrant women for following through with referrals for care. METHODS: Twenty-five women living in Montreal who had received a referral completed semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: Inhibitors included language barriers, transportation problems, scheduling appointments, absence of husband, absence of childcare, cold weather, perceived inappropriate referrals, and cultural practice differences. Facilitators included choice of follow-up facilitator, appropriate services, empathetic professionals, and early receipt of information. DISCUSSION: Results indicate that migrant women may not be receiving the care they and their newborns need once a concern is identified. This suggests conceiving of a different approach to the care of this population post-birth, which could include partnering with social or religious networks.